A Great Gift You Can Give"

A Great Gift You Can Give

Matthew 2:9-11 - “Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, myrrh.” NLT

Proverbs 23:7 - “As a man (young person) thinks in his/her heart so he/she becomes.” KJV

Wise men brought gifts and presented them to Jesus. We celebrate Christmas by giving gifts to family and friends. I want to suggest a great gift you can give this Christmas.

You can give your family a great gift. You can give your teachers a great gift. You can give your friends a great gift.

Here is the gift you can give: A healthy, positive attitude.

The Carnegie Foundation discovered that to be successful on the job, relational skills are far more important than knowledge. Its research found that only 15 percent of a person’s success is determined by job knowledge and technical skills. Eighty-five percent is determined by an individual’s attitude and ability to relate to other people.

The key to success in most jobs is this: “Knowing how to get alone with people.” 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is made up of how you respond to what happens to you.

Jesus is our role model for having a right attitude. Philippians 2:5-7, “Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing (he laid aside his power and glory) he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.”

Our goal is to have a Christ-like attitude.

A Christ-like attitude is teachable.

There are several things that keep you from having a teachable attitude.

Pride keeps you from being teachable. To learn mean you learn to ask questions. You sometimes refuse to ask questions because you think your questions might be viewed as being stupid.

Person who are teachable are willing to listen to instructions and do their best to carry out the instructions. A teachable person is not a know-it-all.

A person with a teachable attitude is not afraid to say, “I don’t know the answer. I need to do further study. The teachable person is not afraid to humble themselves and say, “I’m sorry for what I said or did.”

Persons filled with pride and conceit; tend to look down on other people. They have a sense of superiority. They constantly look for what they can find is wrong with people and their situations rather than what is right.

# The story is told of a man who decided to become a monk. He joined an order where silence was the cardinal rule. The monk could only say two words every decade.

After ten years the head monk called him. “Well,” he said, “you can say your two words now.” The man replied, “Food tasteless.” Having said his piece the monk returned to his quarters to spend the next ten years.

Another ten years passed, he was once again summoned to his superior’s office to speak just two words. This time he said, “Bed hard.”

Another ten years passed, now a total of thirty years had passed, and the monk was summoned again by the head of the order. He was told that the time had come to speak his two words. He said, “I quit.” Immediately the head monk jumped up and responded, “I’m not surprised. You have been complaining ever since you got here.”

Your attitude affects your outlook on life.

Proverbs 23:7 - “As a person thinks in his heart, so he becomes.” Your thinking does affect your actions and outlook on life.

The Psalmist knew the importance of having a healthy optimistic outlook on life. Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be goad in it.” Psalm 23:6, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.”

When you get up in the morning you have a choice. You can say in your heart- :Good morning Lord,” or “Oh no, not another morning?”

An attitude of pessimism does affect your outlook on life.

A farmer with an optimistic attitude purchased a bird dog. He asked his neighbor if he had seen his new birddog. The neighbor said, “You mean that mangy mutt I saw penned up behind your house. He doesn’t look like much of a bird dog to me.”

The farmer with the bird dog asked the other farmer if he would like to go duck hunting and try out his new bird dog. The pessimistic farmed agreed to go.